How Many Games Are There In Table Tennis?

Table Tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988 and has its own rule governing federation called the International Table Tennis Federation. Table Tennis gets reviewed annually, so it helps to keep up to date with the ins and outs, and you might be wondering how many Table Tennis games there are in a match.

An official Table Tennis match consists of three, five, or seven rounds, depending on how the games are won or tied, but a typical contest will end up consisting of five. Variations in players in Table Tennis also influence and determine how many rounds get played.

Ready, set, match! How many games will you play in your go at Table Tennis? We’ll analyze what aspects contribute to the number of games you play based on the rules and outcomes encompassing a match. We’ll also give you a rundown of common Table Tennis questions and their answers.

The Number Of Games In Table Tennis

From three games to seven, your rounds’ intensity will get decided by your performance throughout the game set. The rules will govern each game you play, and you should prepare yourself for a battle out until the seventh encounter!

You’ll need to win a total of eleven points in a single round, and these rules were set by the International Table Tennis Federation in 2001, taking over the 21-point bar. The game needs to be won by a two-point bracket. If you reach a deuce, when the points come to a 10-10 tie, the single game will continue until the first player or team achieves two points, no matter the score.

Now that the scoring of a single round is out of the way, let us dive into the number of times you’ll play! Whether it’s a formal or informal match, if a team or player wins the first three games out of five, the game will end, and they will be victorious. A three-round match rarely governs formal and international tournaments, but if a player or team wins the first three an out of five, the game will end.

If you’re playing an informal match, you can choose to play the best out of three, but you can also opt to play rounds until any odd number of your choice, but the soundest option is best out of five to create a fair playing field.

The best out of five is the standard round count for most Table Tennis games and gets won by the player or team who wins three. Most international competitions, including the Olympic doubles, are the best out of the five games. Most doubles games are a five-set.

The best of seven games also gets played formally and is the standard number for Olympic singles. In a seven-round match, the winner must dominate four of them in any order of rounds. Again. The game will end if the same team or player wins the first four. Most international and formal games are best out of seven for Table Tennis singles.

Complete games of three, five, and seven rounds can happen. In a three-round match, the opposing players must win one each, and the final game determines the winner. A five-round needs to be won by two each, and the fifth set will determine the winner. In seven rounds, the winners must have a three-to-three win, and the seventh game determines who wins.

Table Tennis Questions And Answers

Any sport can be confusing, and you may question many aspects, so playing Table Tennis isn’t any different. It may seem somewhat simple to play, but we’ve covered you if you wonder about some particulars!

How Long Is A Table Tennis Match?

Table Tennis gets won depending on games succeeded in the set rounds, as previously explained, and each gets achieved by 11 points leading by two, so the game’s timing varies according to how the encounters get won.

A single round lasts about six minutes typically, but if the combined points are less than 18 by the ten-minute mark, an expedite rule comes in, whereby the serving team or player wins if they successfully return the ball 13 times. The expedite means a complete formal match lasts 30 to 60 minutes.

How Do Officially You Score Points In Table Tennis?

You score points by your ball bouncing more than once on your opponent’s side or ricocheting over their side of the table. If your opponent hits the ball over your side of the table without bouncing, you win the point.

The rules state that you should not hit the ball before it bounces on your side, or your opponent will score unless it completely passes your side of the table and hasn’t bounced. After serving, your opposing player will earn a point if you hit the ball onto your side before theirs during the play.

What Happens If Your Ball Hits The Net In Table Tennis?

If your serve hits the net and bounces over to the opponent’s side, it’s called a set, and you serve again, and there are no limits on a set. Suppose the ball touches the net during a serve or play and comes back to your side; your opponent scores. The game persists when it hits the net and continues to the opposing player’s side during play.

Is There A Variance Between Ping Pong And Table Tennis?

Table Tennis was originally called Ping Pong until the name Ping Pong was trademarked in the 1920s, so it was changed to officially called Table Tennis, as ruled by the sport’s official associations, in 1922. The name Ping Pong came about from the sound the ball made when bouncing off the table and got trademarked by a company selling the equipment to promote the sport.

Today Ping Pong and Table Tennis are different games, but the rules are almost identical. The difference between the two is that in Ping Pong, the ball must bounce on your side before hitting back over the net to the opponent, so every shot must reflect on both sides.

The official game is Table Tennis, which is the version played in the Olympics because Ping Pong gets based on owning the trademark. The other differences are that a Table Tennis ball is 27cm in diameter, and Ping-Pong balls are 25cm. The paddles also use different materials.

Conclusion

Table Tennis consists of three, five, or seven games to make up a match, but three games get primarily used in informal settings, five games get mainly used for doubles, and seven rounds for singles. The rounds may not get played out in total, but they can happen depending on the scoring.

We’ve also looked at how long a game of Table Tennis is, how to score points, what happens if you hit the net, and the differences compared to Ping Pong, so we hope you can go out with paddles blazing, no matter how many rounds you play!